Opisthacanthus sp CF Madagascariensis - Breeding Experience

I don't have access to post in the Breeding Reports forum so I decided to post this here.

I picked up 2.2 Opisthacanthus sp CF Madagascariensis from Ken the Bug Guy in April 2015. I was unsure of how to sex them but I labeled them as he did. Although the male and females look very similar, the females are definitely heavier bodied and eat more frequently. I was hoping they might be gravid but I would have expected a birth by now. Unfortunately I lost one of the males about 6 months ago...I was attempting to simulate a bit of a dry season and I think it just got too dry for him.

I've kicked up misting to about once a week for the last month and last night I decided to try paring the male with the smaller of the two females.

Setup
I house all of the animals separately in shoe box sized sterlite containers and use a bedding mid of 1/3 sand, 1/3 coco fiber and 1/3 small/medium orchid bark. Each container has a piece of cork and is on heat tape that is regulated at 90 degrees.

9:45pm - Inspected cages of the male and female, both were out and sitting on top of their piece of cork9:55pm - Flipped the cork bark over (to display the smoother side) and set the males piece of bark in the females container. They were about 4-6" apart at this point and there was no noticeable movement or action from either of them.10:00pm - Female approaches the male and moves onto his cork. Both inspect each-other and do some pincer touching.10:03pm - Both are still next to each-other, the male begins short jerking actions.10:03pm - 10:15pm - Pincer play and small re-positioning movements, the male never grabs the females pincers, the event feels very relaxed and non-aggressive.10:15pm - 10:35pm- They appear to lock via the mouth parts, there is some pincer movement but it is minimal. For the most part the females pincers and huddled in a resting position, the males pincers are also in a resting position but on top of the female's. During this entire time there was very little actual movement from either of them, however the female appeared to be pushing the male backwards. The male would respond on occasion by pushing her back as well. It was difficult to confirm, the male could have been pulling the female but it really appeared as though she was pushing him.10:35pm - The pair seems to start separating, at which point the female went after the male! I can't confirm if she was going to try and eat him but she became very aggressive. The male skittered away and in an effort to help him, I prodded her away with some long tongs...she was aggro on the tongs as well.

I returned the male to his shoe-box and inspected the cork for a sperm case but couldn't confirm. There was what appeared to be a glossy spot but no long case like normally seen during other species breeding videos.

I'm going to feed them all this evening then try the paring again. I have some videos and will attempt to upload them later today.

Your observations seem like a successful pairing, in my experience the female will only get aggressive after taking the spermatophore
If she is fighting him off in future tries then looks like you're on to a winner!

Awesome species, big brood also!

Attached Files:

I've introduced the male to the second female twice and both times she hasn't been interested. With the first paring, the male and female were on separate pieces of bark and the female approached the male. With the second female, the male approached her (pretty quickly) and she was pretty defensive and chased him off. I'm not sure if he's startling her but even when he comes back a second time she's on the defense.

Scorpions require a mating ritual before they'll breed. When the male rushes the female she'll panic and attack in defence. To up your chances it's best to put them inside a Big a container as possible that way when you introduce the male he won't run around straight into the female.

Also it doesn't really matter if they fight for a moment the male often does this to show he's strong enough and they're immune/highly resistant to their own venom class anyway. If the fights are prolonged and more stinger action than pincers and bumping together then I'd seperate them

Scorpions require a mating ritual before they'll breed. When the male rushes the female she'll panic and attack in defence. To up your chances it's best to put them inside a Big a container as possible that way when you introduce the male he won't run around straight into the female.

Also it doesn't really matter if they fight for a moment the male often does this to show he's strong enough and they're immune/highly resistant to their own venom class anyway. If the fights are prolonged and more stinger action than pincers and bumping together then I'd seperate them

Click to expand...

Agreed, I may offer them a larger container for a longer window of time. I just prefer to watch them since the first female was so aggressive after mating...I don't want to chance losing my only male.

I have tried paring my second female a few times now..she is just not interested and I'm unsure why. The female that was mated has been very active on the warmer side of her cage so hoping she's got some babies growing inside her! Interesting enough she hasn't really increased in feeding much, however she was fairly chubby at the time of mating.

Another update. The second female (that was not interested in breeding) appears to be very heavy. She has been on the same feeding schedule as the other female and I'm beginning to wonder if she is gravid.

Does anyone have experience with sperm retention for a couple years when it comes to this species or other scorps? I originaly picked these up from KTBG in September 2015...while I don't know how they were kept at his facility, they have been in individual containers while in my care.

Could this female have been mated in the wild or shortly after being imported and produce babies 2+ years later?

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